The Association of Shelter Veterinarians’ (ASV) Board of Directors (BOD) has developed the following position statements in response to the growing demand from ASV members, state veterinary boards and animal shelters for guidelines and expert opinions on a variety of subjects that present common medical and management dilemmas. The input of outside experts has been sought when appropriate. It is recognized that animal shelters are widely divergent in their resources and missions and that no single health care protocol or position statement will be applicable or appropriate in every situation. These are offered primarily as a service to our members to help raise the standards of care for shelter medicine practice and should be used accordingly.

Some of our Position Statements have Informational Documents (Info Docs) associated with them listed as a freely-available resource on topics relevant to the practice of shelter medicine. These documents serve to supplement our Position Statements and provide referenced background information where appropriate and available.